By Dr Irwin Lim, Rheumatologist
I scanned through the list of posts written this year. A bit of a hotch-potch. Out of these, I've picked my personal favourites and given reasons why (Please click on the titles to read the actual posts).
1. What Not To Wear For Foot Arthritis
This was a very popular post, likely due to the gorgeous Xray (and the legs and footwear weren't too bad either). The Xray shows the incredible stresses the foot's under with sexy footwear.
Not that I stare at our staff's legs but I couldn't help notice that my post did not stop a range of high-heeled footwear at our Xmas party!
2. Low-dose Methotrexate: Myths & Realities
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that Methotrexate as a medication has a "bad reputation", somewhat undeservedly and due to it's early use as a chemotherapy drug. It's use in much lower doses in rheumatology makes it a good drug and we need to spread the word.
This published article that you can download through the link was due to the hard work of my colleagues and friends, Phil Robinson and Claire Barrett. It was fun collaborating with them on something we are passionate about.
3. Michael Slater & his Secret Spondylitis
Celebrities with arthritis can do much to improve awareness and acceptance of these conditions. It was great to see some national coverage, brief though it was. Personally, it was a bit of a buzz being on TV (a few seconds only) and while I probably shouldn't admit this, it was pretty cool to hear my patients saying that they were pleasantly surprised to see their rheumatologist on screen.
4. When the volume control for pain gets turned up
Fibromyalgia is not the most popular of diseases for most rheumatologists to treat, including myself. It's difficult! Most of the time, doctors throw up their hands and we may feel quite impotent in being able to help the patient. Imagine how the patient feels!
In this post, I introduced the Fibroguide website. I only learned of this this year and it has made a big difference in how I approach fibromyalgia and I know it has helped my patients.
I hope you've found some of these interesting. Please feel free to comment on any in the section below.
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health. You should follow him on twitter here.BJC Health’s vision is to create best care for people with arthritis. Contact us.
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